Fruit · Medicinal
Cacao
Theobroma cacao L.
FamilyMalvaceae
EspañolCacao
AlsoCocoa tree, Chocolate tree
A small evergreen understorey tree of wet lowland rainforest, with large, shiny, leathery leaves that emerge red and turn green. Its small flowers grow straight out of the trunk and older branches, a habit called cauliflory, and develop into ridged, egg-shaped pods 10–30 cm long holding 30–40 seeds in a sweet white pulp. The fermented and roasted seeds are the source of chocolate, and the tree is native to Costa Rica itself.
Sourced · see Record tab Not of conservation concern (Kew) · IUCN
Worth knowingThe genus name Theobroma means 'food of the gods', and cacao beans were valued so highly by the Aztecs that they were used as currency.
5on the estate
3carrying a tag
2sponsored
| Tag | Garden area | Zone | Planted | Status | Sponsored | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Main Orchard | B | 1 June 2015 | Healthy | Prisca C., USA | |
| 223 | Jungle Boardwalk | B | 17 June 2016 | Healthy | Britta F., Germany | |
| 224 | Jungle Boardwalk | B | 17 June 2016 | Healthy | — | |
| — | Orchard | — | 5 July 2019 | Planted | — | |
| — | Orchard | — | 5 July 2019 | Planted | — |
2 of these have no tag yet; they will be numbered when the garden team re-tags the estate.